Feedlot Report Available

February 2018 marked the first official feeder lamb inventory summary from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service. While numbers of lambs in Colorado feedlots have been tracked since 1993, the data was reported unofficially and available by email to anyone who requested the information.

The official report includes only lambs in Colorado feedlots at this time.

“The goal with this going forward is to try to include other areas to get a better snapshot of total lambs on feed,” said Chris Dias with USDA/AMS. “With cooperation, we would like to be able to include Wyoming, the Midwest and possibly California if this can gain traction.”

As of Feb. 5, there were 180,585 lambs in Colorado feedlots – a drop of more than 34,000 since January of this year. Historical data shows significant drops in inventory from January to February are the norm. Numbers usually see a slight bump in spring, then drop significantly through the summer and spike dramatically in the fall.